Defining a Magic Collection

There seems to exist a divide between two types of Magic enthusiasts - Collectors and Players. Some people consider themselves Collectors but don't know how to play the game. Other players, and this is especially rampant at the professional level, hardly own any cards of their own and simply borrow decks and cards to play this game. I know I've personally lent many cards to Brad Nelson and his brother Corey Baumeister as they were taking their skills to higher level events with reasonable-to-high chances of success. These players often acquire many cards through drafting, but are often seen at dealer tables unloading them to get some cash back. They often don't have collections of their own cards for very long.

Alteration by Eric Klug

There is a large portion of the Magic fan base left unmentioned by these two extremes, though. The players who draft cards and put them in their binder once the tournament is done. The players who buy boxes or cases when a new set comes out in order to get the cards they need for the new Standard. The players who - like myself - love to play the game and look for cooler versions of cards to play with. These people all have aspects of collectors and players in them. Some lean more towards one extreme than the other - the player who buys 4x sets is collecting the cards only to have all the cards available for deck building. That one guy at your local gaming store with the Planeswalker collection still plays the game, he just chose to pick up all the coolest, most flavorful (in current Magic lore), and most powerful cards because he loves the game. The "card pimp" is looking more to show off the unique cards he or she has acquired, but often has found that the best medium for doing this is in the middle of a game. Because if there's one thing cooler than Andy Warhol Jace, the Mind Sculptor, it's beating someone with Andy Warhol Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

It's easy not to think of these people as "Collectors". You usually consider a collector "that guy with the binders" or, as was the case in my local gaming store, "that guy with the suitcase". But a collection can take on many more forms than a binder. Ultimately, a collection is any group of cards with a defined ending point - an ideal set of cards that completes it. Collectors that are not players - the far extreme - often have the loosest collections. They like cards that look cool, or maybe have Wizards on them. Not understanding the rules of the game makes the cards incomprehensible, so they go by what they can see on the card. If you have any bit of Player in you, though, often your collection will take a more defined shape. And it may not be one you even realized - a deck can be a collection, as can a Cube, or a stack for Type 4.

My Oros, the Avenger deck is my main collection. The ideal set of cards is defined by two components: The decklist, and where it falls on my "pimp hierarchy". Collectors who collect in deck form often have a hierarchy that helps them determine whether or not they have the cards they want - some people prefer simply English foil (especially if their collection is a Cube), others like all the cards to be altered, and some like foreign languages such as German, Russian, or Japanese. Even if they haven't totally thought it out, most collectors know what they are looking for in their deck. My hierarchy is very specific:

As I write this, there are two cards in my scans which don't fall into the ideal range - two Japanese nonfoil Commander precon cards, Chaos Warp and Command Tower. In a couple of weeks these will be altered by Klug and will reach the Ideal range. I no longer have any English foil, unaltered cards in my deck, so I included the image of a Judge promo foil Survival of the Fittest, by one of my favorite artists, Shelly Wan.

A deck isn't the only shape a collection can take, either. Some people will collect only Dragons, so their ideal set is, obviously, one of each of all the Dragons. There are many people who collect what is called a global set - they'll select a card, and their ideal set is every printing of that card in every language, including foils, nonfoils, and artist proofs. This is likely my next destination after "completing" Oros (I still have many cards to get signed to put them higher in the ideal range!) - I'll probably tackle a global set of Oros, the Avenger. And some people just like a card so much - either it's hilarious, terrible, or they just happened to start getting a lot of them - that their goal is to simply collect as many as they can. This is the one type of collection that is unable to reach an ideal set - the ideal set for it is basically all of them. Of course, these are rarely very serious - they'll get a few thrown into trades here and there. But then again, some of them can be frighteningly serious in reaching their goal:

Keep in mind those Mountains are worth somewhere around $30 USD each right now!

Having an ideal set helps the collector know when they're finished. It provides the goal to reach and let's them know when they've made advances or accomplished something. Every time you get a card to ideal, you are one step closer to finishing the collection. Mr. Puleo from the video above has a very impressive collection, but because his isn't defined he lacks the sense of accomplishment. He has no ideal cards - sure, he has 425 Mountains, but he could have 500! He does, however, have the benefit of enjoying the collecting experience practically forever. Collecting can be fun, and the feeling when you find a card you need is stimulating.

Fortunately, collecting cards in a deck for an eternal-casual format like Commander means as long as the game lives, the collection can grow. Each set could bring cards that modify your decklist, so you can keep collecting and finishing again and again. Innistrad previews should be starting in short order - and I've got my eyes on Liliana of the Veil. We'll see if she makes the cut! Likewise, those collectors of Dragons can enjoy adding to their collections for years to come, as Dragons are sure to be printed in nearly every set.

I hope I've helped provide a different perspective on collections and collecting, and I wish everyone who is working on a collection much luck and success!

Until next time,
Day 2 Dan